Serious question, has anyone else been told to skip the airlock for hot sauce?

For the first year I made fermented hot sauces, I always used an airlock. Everyone in my local club in Austin said you had to. Then I met a guy at a market who sells his own sauce, and he told me he just uses a regular jar with the lid barely on. I thought he was nuts and asking for mold. But after my last batch with an airlock got too fizzy and blew out, I tried his way with a simple mix of habaneros and carrots. I left the lid just sitting on top, not screwed down, for 14 days. It worked perfectly, no kahm, no issues. It made me realize the airlock isn't the only right way, it's just the safest for beginners. Now I feel like the gear can sometimes make things more complicated than they need to be. Has anyone else moved away from using an airlock for certain ferments?

2 comments

2 Comments

seana142mo ago

My buddy up in Vermont does all his ferments with just a cloth napkin and a rubber band over the jar... he says his grandma did it that way for sixty years. He makes a mean fermented garlic honey that way, never had a batch go bad. It really seems like if you keep things clean and maybe burp it once a day, you can get away with way less gear. Makes you wonder how much of the fancy stuff is just solving problems we created.

nora7671mo ago

Honestly, that tracks. My first attempt at fermenting hot sauce involved a fancy airlock setup and it still grew something fuzzy. My friend's mom just uses an old pickle jar with the lid loosely on and hers are perfect every time. I've spent more money on gear than on vegetables at this point. Makes me feel like a real sucker sometimes.